Sigma DP2 Merrill Day

Well, it’s Sigma DP2 Merrill Day for me anyhow. First, Steve Huff posted his review of the camera this morning. Then, my review copy of the camera arrived at my office around lunch time. I charged the batteries (it comes with 2) while working through the afternoon, then took it out for a test spin after work. It’s been a while since my last review of a DP, but if memory serves me correctly this one is a bit larger and a bit heavier than the previous DPs. It feels good in the hand.

Steve mentioned a few problems with his camera. First, his squeaky lens is apparently a defect in his copy of the camera as mine did not have that. Unfortunately his concerns regarding the focus speed are correct although I didn’t encounter a problem out in the evening light – just while playing with the camera in my office (which has 6 windows) during the afternoon. While he may be correct about the 18 second write times on RAW files, I shot 10 frames in RAW + JPEG in a row as fast as the camera could focus without running out of buffer. So that doesn’t keep you from shooting. It does, however, keep you from reviewing what you have shot for, in my case with 10 shots, a few minutes! Almost like shooting film. And finally, he definitely nailed the image quality opinion – these are gorgeous. I have the camera for a month so there will be periodic updates and ultimately my own review. Below are a few more from my brief excursion this evening – brought to in living color (since the Foveon sensor has such good color). All pictures were shot ISO 100.

Dewey Lake

I think this serious crop shows the thin layer of critical focus possible at f2.8